Bushing Comparison - please share your experiences
 

Alright guys, there are a lot of bushings out there now and I think it's about time we let you drivers lift any fog that has rested over this Poly vs. Delrin vs. Nylon debate.

This is thread is for you guys to share your experiences without having to listen to Steve or I boast. lol :) NO GB sale links or other non-technical data should be posted on this thread.


Delrin - 18 pieces

• front arms - .........yes
• rear upper arms -.yes
• diff mount - ..........yes
• shock mounts ......yes
• trailing arms..........yes
• toe links -............. no
• steering rack.........no

SuperPro 18 piece kit

• front arms - .........yes
• rear upper arms -.yes
• diff mount - ..........yes
• shock mounts ......yes
• trailing arms..........no
• toe links -............. no
• steering rack.........yes

SuperPro 24 piece kit

• front arms - .........yes
• rear upper arms -.yes
• diff mount - ..........yes
• shock mounts ......yes
• trailing arms..........yes
• toe links -............. yes
• steering rack.........yes

Unobtanium Kit = No Longer Available
please answer the following question HONESTLY based on your personal experiences with the forementioned bushings. Again, please be honest and do not try to exaggerate or leave out information to protect anyone.

1) Do the polyurethane SuperPro bushings squeak?

2) Do the SuperPro bushings create any new whining or any detectable level of noise vibration or harshness?

3) Do the Delrin bushings create any new whining or any detectable level of noise vibration or harshness?

3) How do your SuperPro bushings perform compared to OEM, Delrin or Nylon bushings that you have had experiences with in the past? Please describe how the performance of your car has improved or worsened.

4) How do your Delrin Bushings perform compared to OEM, Unobtanium or SuperPro bushings that you have had in the past? Please describe how the performance of your car has improved or worsened.

5) If you could make the choice again which bushings would you choose?

1) No. Have had them for two track sessions and about 1000 street miles, no noise yet.

2) No.

3) I have rode in a few cars with Delrin bushings. It was this experience that led me to stick with my stock bushings until something else became available. The road noise and harshness were unacceptable to me. On the other hand, compared to stock bushings the SuperPro result in a faster 'set' time on transition and reduce some of the vagueness that I had in the rear of the car. They seem to be in the sweet spot for my driving style.

4) N/A

5) So far I'm very happy with the SuperPro bushings.

Details of my car in the sig below.

-ch

I've only gotten street time in on these, so for people curious about results of the superpro "full" kit on a street car....


1) No

2) No

3) Have never had any experiences with them

3) I had a set of Unobtanium bushings previously installed in the car, and the car feels just as "tight" but with alot less noise.... win win basically

4) N/A

5) Superpro for sure, no complaints!

I have had the rear kit installed since last season ( zero problems), and just finished the front install along with a four wheel alignment and from my experiece I am totally pleased with the Super pro bushings. Zero squeaking, no noticeable change to the NVH, and the overall car just feels better.
BTW my car is a 93 R1 with 65,000 original km's not miles and no accidents!.....so I feel I am starting from a good platform to judge from, unlike cars with high mileage or cars that have been in an accident. I have no expereince with other bushing kits so I can't say.

I have a 93 model with an LS1. Delrin bushings, RE trailing arms and toe links. The car is street driven, but its main purpose is autox and eventual tracking once I get everything else finished. Vehicle is not daily driven.

1) Do the Delrin bushings squeak?
My Delrin bushings do not make any noticable suspension sounds.

3) Do the Delrin bushings create any new whining or any detectable level of noise vibration or harshness?
Diff whine is up, but my diff was already going out before the install. Ride is definately harsher, but fine for my use of the car.

4) How do your Delrin Bushings perform compared to OEM, Unobtanium or SuperPro bushings that you have had in the past? Please describe how the performance of your car has improved or worsened.
The car definately feels tighter and more predictable compared to the stock rubber bushings. The rear end is far more predictable as well.

5) If you could make the choice again which bushings would you choose?
Same bushings. The harsher ride compared to stock is acceptable given the use of the car. I would not, however, use them on a daily driven vehicle.

Disclaimer...I was only able to drive my car for about 4 days with the new bushings in before it stopped running, so just remember this eval is going on only 4 days of use. I will post another eval after having driven the car a while, as soon as I get it running, haha.



1) Do the polyurethane SuperPro bushings squeak?Not a bit.

2) Do the SuperPro bushings create any new whining or any detectable level of noise vibration or harshness?Also, not a bit.

3) Do the Delrin bushings create any new whining or any detectable level of noise vibration or harshness?
N/A

3) How do your SuperPro bushings perform compared to OEM, Delrin or Nylon bushings that you have had experiences with in the past? Please describe how the performance of your car has improved or worsened.I've never ridden with anyone that has Delrin bushings, and I only drove it for 4 days coupled with the fact that my OEM bushings had 147k miles on them, it's hard to say how they compare. So far I am super happy with the SuperPro bushings though. I tried to get on as many curvy roads as possible before it went down.

4) How do your Delrin Bushings perform compared to OEM, Unobtanium or SuperPro bushings that you have had in the past? Please describe how the performance of your car has improved or worsened.N/A

5) If you could make the choice again which bushings would you choose?I'd stick with SuperPro probably. If I was building a track car I might think of Delrin, I'd have to get a ride on them to be sure first though.

I'll copy this because I agree completely, except I still have a 13b.

My impressions:


No difference in ride noise at all over stock.

Car doesn't want to pull over small bumps(as much)anymore.

Much more stabile at high speed turns.

No clunking in the rear anymore.

Delrin Bushings
Mostly AutoX

1) Do the bushings squeak?

Not yet (500 miles)

2) Do the bushings create any new whining or any detectable level of noise vibration or harshness?

Not sure about whining, suspension much stiffer then my factory bushings, Harshness is higher.

Have no experience with anything other then factory.

5) If you could make the choice again which bushings would you choose?

If harshness didn't result from increased performance/handling then factory or something else. **shrug**

sorry, i don't understand. are you saying that you feel that the harsher the ride the better the performance? therefore if you weren't worried about ultimate performance you would go with stock bushings? i am not being sarcastic, just wondering.

He's probably just saying that if he didn't feel like he was getting better performance, the ride wouldn't be worth the harshness, but I could be wrong. That's just how I understood it.

I wrote "if" because I don't know wether delrin bushings increases suspension stiffness and if that increased handling performance. It's harsher, I feel that, but if the harshness is from increased suspension rigidity and its improving my handling/corning then it doesn’t bother me.

If, if, if. I don’t really know.

if you are going to ask peoples subjective opinions on performance then I would also like to know their driving experience so that we have some basis for how well informed the performance opinion is.

Super Pro

Love them! Absolutely no squeaks or clunks. The car's handling is very crisp. I thought that they installed very easily with a bench-top vise and a press. Getting the stockers out was the worst part.

Nice job guys! Thanks for taking the time to put this G.B. together.

That's basically the same thing I said in my post, haha.

What do you mean by driving experience? Do you mean how LONG the person has been driving, or what kind of driving are their opinions based on? I don't think they're asking subjective opinions anyway. They're asking simple questions with answers that should be based on fact, not opinion. If they squeak, they squeak...that's not opinion. The only question that could be construed as opinion is the last question on which choice you would make if you had to do it again.

I finally installed the front lower contol arm bushings a couple of days ago and thought I'd add some initial feedback.

First off, I'll be the first to admit that I'm a cranky mofo. I hate when parts don't live up to their advertised hype. I've also been modding and tracking cars for 20 years now and have wasted good money on many a mod/upgrade part that didn't live up to hype / expectations.

I'm more into suspension and brakes than I am all out horse power. One of the things that I feel really makes a car less enjoyable to drive (or just plain undriveable) is a poor suspension setup. Oftentimes some suspension upgrades should really be labelled TRACK ONLY b/c it kills the streetability of the car. I've tried all different suspension setups on my car from stock to coilovers and I much prefer Konis and a good set of springs like H&Rs or Eibachs over anything out there under $1k.

The last time I did poly urethane bushings was about 10 years ago on a VW I had and I hated driving the car after that "upgrade" b/c it transmitted every road irregularity through the suspension so I approached the SuperPro bushings with a high degree of skepticism. Once bitten twice shy....

I was originally going to replace my bushings with new OEM bushings but after one of the rear bushings started making noise after relatively low mileage/use, I thought I'd give these Super Pro poly bushings a shot. My front suspension bushings were totally shot at 130k miles. My balljoints were particularly bad making all kinds of crackling noises. So I decided to replace both my control arms and get new bushings.

I bought a new set of upper control arms from Mazda and installed those. The upper control arm comes with new bushings + new balljoint. It made a nice difference and allowed me to get a feel for what new OEM bushings would feel like. I drove around on just the new uppers for a couple of weeks and the difference was noticeable.

Since new lower control arms are so expensive, I got a set of low mileage lower control arms from Rotary Experiment Seven and replaced the bushings with SuperPro and installed them a few days ago. I got these "professionally" installed at Vista Brake in Vista, Ca since the car needs to be re-aligned after you do the lower control arms. Plus they had a press and all the tools needed to do the job right. The suspension guy John is a former SCCA racer so he knows what he is doing.

My experience thus far is that the SuperPro poly bushings are slightly stiffer than new OEM bushings (as expected) but they feel very streetable. Turn in and steering response is slightly sharper with a more direct feeling. However, the ride quality was not diminished. I don't notice more Noise being transmitted. I don't notice more Harshness being transmitted over expansion joints or rougher roads.

The one thing I do notice when driving on California's grooved highway surfaces is a little more Vibration being transmitted through the steering wheel. It is not objectionable and not a large amount. The only reason I really noticed it was b/c I was looking for what differences I felt compared to stock. You get more of this type of communication from a slightly stiffer bushing material. On smooth road surfaces, I did not feel any of this slight vibration.

I would not want a bushing material any stiffer than this for one of my cars that sees street duty. I'm going to put some more miles on these new front bushings and move onto the rear suspension later in the year. I hope to be just as satisfied with that change also.



1) Do the polyurethane SuperPro bushings squeak?
No

2) Do the SuperPro bushings create any new whining or any detectable level of noise vibration or harshness?
see above

3) Do the Delrin bushings create any new whining or any detectable level of noise vibration or harshness?
No

3) How do your SuperPro bushings perform compared to OEM, Delrin or Nylon bushings that you have had experiences with in the past? Please describe how the performance of your car has improved or worsened.
see above

5) If you could make the choice again which bushings would you choose?
Can't answer this until I try the rears



Hopefully future readers find this useful.

I bought the superpro diff bushes... yet to install them though! Stupid loctited bolts! :P Will let you know what their like when install... if installed haha.

where did you get your set of superpro bushings?

Has anyone swapped in the complete 24 piece Super Pro kit and Noltec mounts? Obviously if you own a 93 you also need to swap the alum. motor mount to a steel one. Thanks G

I have been running the Noltec mounts for about 18 months and the Super pro kit for about 7 months now! At the time of the Super Pro install I also replaced all oem pillow balls as well...needless to say the difference from the stock setup is night and day. There is ZERO added noise/vibrations and as mentioned numerous times the car feels much tighter/crisper overall. I have been in two other cars with Delrin bushings (drove one, passenger in another) and it was certainly a much more harsh ride in comparison to the Super Pro bushings. Since I use my car 98% of the time for normal street use I would make the same choice again with the Super Pros!

I should also add...my car had about 38k miles at the time of install so the OEM bushings were not nearly as bad as some others...but as mentioned the difference was VERY noticeable :)

Hi Rob,
Finally got 'em in. A little more hunt/seek on uneven pavement, but alot more confidence inspiring on track, for a price that's less than OEM, and an acceptable level of compliance for a street car. Thanks!


1) Do the polyurethane SuperPro bushings squeak?
No

2) Do the SuperPro bushings create any new whining or any detectable level of noise vibration or harshness?
Not that I can detect

3) Do the Delrin bushings create any new whining or any detectable level of noise vibration or harshness?
N/A

3) How do your SuperPro bushings perform compared to OEM, Delrin or Nylon bushings that you have had experiences with in the past? Please describe how the performance of your car has improved or worsened.
Admittedly, my factory originals were 100k old, but the SuperPro's really improved things... I shaved over 3 secs./lap off my times at Watkins Glen, owing largely to increased confidence at turn-in.

5) If you could make the choice again which bushings would you choose?
I'd go SuperPro again.

Hey fellas, I wanted to go with the Delrin diff bushings and Poly for the rest because I didn't want to buy a diff brace and I heard the Delrins are stiffer and you dont need a diff brace. I bought the Delrin diff bushings from someone who didn't need them, and let me tell you guys something; GOD DAMN!!! Those fucking bushings are hard as hell. You might as well use steel/solid bushings. I cant believe people are actually putting these "things" on their entire suspension(I say "things" and not "bushings" because bushings should have SOME kinda give). I'm scared to put them on just the damn diff...lol. These are DEFINITELY race only in my opinion. No wonder the Delrin group buy's ad features a monster looking dude with his eyes and teeth rattling out...lol. Good luck to you "Delrin bushings on street car users", I cant knock you, but you guys are crazy.

I had mine on for about 2 weeks now. Haven't driven it that much since I still have to get an alignment done.

Installation tools I used are what was available for "loan a tool"at our local parts store (Canadian Tire), I used four total. Front end service tool, Bearing removal/install, drive axle tool/Bushing and Tie rod/Ball joint tool. All at no cost.

Took me a week to complete everything.

The ride before was harsh. Using tokico and H&R srpings. 186,500 Kms.
This was due to the old worn out pillow balls, sway bar links and a few others.

After the installation, the car feels a lot more firm and solid. I am happy with my decision. It took SP bushings, new pillow balls and sway bar end links.

Thanks for doing the group buy.

I echo Ptrhahn's comments.

I did a lot of work on my FD at once---new front subframe, new tanabe coilovers, four corner big brake kit, along with superpro bushings in all eight control arms, new pillow balls, etc. I'm running rotary extreme toe links and trailing arms.

The car feels *very* firm and planted, with zero noises from the suspension at all. Can't wait to get the car out on the open track :icon_tup: